U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffery Epstein on July 8, 2019 in New York City. A federal judge in Florida has denied a request to unseal grand jury transcripts from a separate Epstein case in Florida.
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Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
A Florida federal judge on Wednesday denied a request to unseal grand jury transcripts of a federal investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
President Trump had called for the release of grand jury testimony related to Epstein, who was accused of sexually trafficking children, in response to pressure from lawmakers and some supporters to show more transparency on the case.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg of Florida said in her ruling that Eleventh Circuit law does not permit her to grant the government’s request and that her “hands are tied.”
Rosenberg also said the government’s request to unseal the grand jury transcripts does not fall under the limited exceptions allowed under the law.
Two judges in New York also are considering parallel requests from the Justice Department to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein. They have given the department until next week to address more fully why the transcripts should be made public, and an additional week to hear from Epstein representatives and his victims.
Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal child sex trafficking charges, but his close associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for charges of facilitating Epstein’s abuse of underage girls.
The Department of Justice asked judges in several states last week to release the grand jury transcripts related to Epstein. The DOJ filed motions in the Southern District of New York as well as in the Southern District of Florida.
In Florida, the department was seeking transcripts from grand jury investigations into Epstein in 2005 and 2007.
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